Zucchini Butter Pasta 

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Published Aug. 26, 2025

Zucchini Butter Pasta 
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Total Time
40 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(865)
Comments
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Make a dent in your glut of summer zucchini with this weeknight-friendly pasta. Grating the zucchini, a technique embraced by Julia Child, allows it to become so tender that it melts into the buttery, cheesy sauce. Cooking the zucchini with vegetable stock over low heat highlights the fruit’s sweetness and prevents it from caramelizing, giving the sauce a creamy rather than charred finish. Once the butter and Parmesan are added, give the mixture a good stir to encourage the zucchini to melt into the liquid. As always with zucchini, its mellow earthy flavor lays dormant until it is seasoned, so be generous with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
  • 2pounds zucchini (about 4 medium), coarsely grated
  • 6garlic cloves, finely chopped 
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1cup vegetable stock
  • ¼cup unsalted butter
  • 1pound fusilli or other short pasta 
  • 1½cups finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving 
  • 3tablespoons lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
  • Big handful of basil leaves, torn
  • 1cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

680 calories; 34 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 67 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 28 grams protein; 804 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat a large 12-inch skillet on medium-high. When hot, drizzle with the olive oil and add the zucchini and garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper and stir to combine.

  2. Step 2

    Add the stock, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the stock has reduced and the zucchini is very tender but not dry, 15 to 20 minutes. (There should still be a small amount of liquid.) Add the butter and stir until it is melted and zucchini has mostly broken down to form a thick, chunky sauce, about 2 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve 1½ cups of pasta cooking water, then drain.

  4. Step 4

    Add the drained pasta, Parmesan and lemon juice to the zucchini and stir to combine, adding some pasta cooking water to loosen it up. Taste and season again with salt and pepper.

  5. Step 5

    To serve, drizzle with olive oil, and top with more grated Parmesan, the basil leaves and walnuts.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
865 user ratings
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Comments

Robin

A tip that NYT should include with all pasta recipes that call for “reserved” pasta water… Don’t set aside some of the pasta water and drain the rest. Instead, use a slotted spoon, pasta server, tongs, etc, to grab the paste from the cooking water and add directly to the prepared sauce. Then you have all the pasta water you might need, and you haven’t dirtied a colander. You would still need a scoop or measurement cup to dip some water out, but you don’t risk not having enough water reserved if you need it. I make a lot of pasta dishes and this is one of the best pasta cooking tips I’ve learned!

Ally Draizin

I usually hate it when folks review a recipe and stray from it, but I did modify this a smidge- I added 3 smooshed up anchovies to the sauce, and I used some leftover miso butter instead of plain butter. It was STUPENDOUS! 10/10 highly recommend.

Cheryle Andrews

I had an abundance of yellow summer squash in the garden and used it instead of the zucchini. I also used 6 cloves of garlic in the half-recipe and added three sliced large mushrooms.Mushrooms were a great addition. Otherwise we really enjoyed this recipe.

Mr Pants

Made this for my Mom while she was recovering from a knee replacement a month ago. We both loved it! She dug the leftovers too! I'm gonna make it again tonight but I'll do it in a dutch oven instead. Last time I smoothed out the zucchini with an immersion blender and the dutch oven will save me from the slight overspray mess. I added more butter and it was definitely more better.

cate w

Also I completely forgot to reserve pasta water and used extra veggie stock instead - still amazing!

cate w

Omg this is so good. We used earth balance and a combo of vegan Parm and nutritional yeast due to allergies and my husband and I (not dairy free) still struggled to stop eating this. Thanks for another amazing recipe, Hetty!

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